Day 42- Bangkok, Bangkok

Bangkok I'm not sure what to think of you. Yet.

Your unfamiliar curvy winding roads, your relentless tuk tuk drivers, your friendly ladies with carts of shiny greasy foods. It seems everything I do I have to proceed with a caution.

I have read about the many common scams that people fall for in Bangkok, but I didn't expect to have seen so many already. Some of the common scams I've been approached with so far are:

- tuk tuk drivers offering me a ride around town for 10 baht (that's like 30 cents, impossible)
- tuk tuk drivers telling me places are closed or open only today (which I know aren't)
- taxi drivers offering me a flat rate for my ride (knowing a metered trip would be cheaper)
- an old lady forcing bags of corn onto me to feed the pigeons for good luck, and then asking me to pay (yes this really happened!)

The good news is though all of this is extremely easy to walk away from, simply by being smart and doing research beforehand, and staying firm, and giving them a hard "NO. Thank you."

It terrifies me a little though the amount of people who do not do their research and fall prey to these scams. I always hear pepple say being tricked and lied to is a part of being a tourist. And I suppose that's somewhat true, but it doesn't make it ok. Being overcharged a dollars or two here and there with souvenirs, sure. But paying double for a taxi simply because you didn't know they were suppose to have their meters on, NO! That is not ok! Nowadays with phone plans so cheap, and the internet at the palm of your hand, and tons of guidebooks, I simply see no excuse for not knowing things that you could've easily looked up. 

But not to scare you guys, I've had plenty of good interactions here as well, including discovering a local market that I wasn't hassled even once and then feeding a hungry alpaca. Getting lost looking for Chinatown then stumbling into a Chinese expat's restaurant trying their Thai infused Chowzhou dishes and asking them about life in Bangkok. Finding a Blues bar just down the block from my hostel with people who loved musicfrom all over the world.

The tourism industry in Thailand as you can see is on full blown, and it's easy to be seen as a walking dollar sign here. But be smart and know where you are walking into and you should be fine. I'm not letting the gritty parts scare me, or at least trying!

I'll give you more time Bangkok after my trip to Phuket! The 'h' is silent by the way just so you know.

Picture time!

Day 40 - See you later Hong Kong

Hong Kong you've thoroughly impressed me but now it's time to go.

Your convenience, your attitude, and your grit both impressed and scared me. It's no wonder my grandfather can be so loving and scary at the same time.

Growing up in NYC, you often think you live in the biggest and best city in the world, but this is simply not true. While NYC may be the most well known city in the world, it does have some catching up to do. Certainly there are still things I think NYC are better at, but you simply can't ignore the things that the other cities are better at.

For example when I was in Seoul, I was blown me away by the way they incorporate modern technology into everyday life. Have you ever tried paying for gum with your credit card? In Seoul you can. Walking from one train cart into the next? Easy! Press a button and the glass door opens for you. And just about everything in South Korea is not only functional, but cute, pretty or beautiful.

Then in Hong Kong, they're unbelievably organized and efficient with the ways they serve their large population. Train platflorms have markers telling people where to go, where to line up to get on, and which carts are designated quiet carts. You can charge your transportation card in seconds at 7/11, and you can use it for all sorts of things like to buy food, or even pay for the binoculars on top of the famous Victoria Peak building. There are literally dozens of examples I can think of that the HK government has thought out to make things more convenient for their residents and tourists. Buses with TVs, buses with luggage compartments, train stations with conveyor belt escalators, free Wifi at malls and public spaces, soup and herbal kiosks, ect.

To date Hong Kong has 7.2 million people and NYC has 8.2. What is our excuse?

Another thing I'd like to mention about the people in Hong Kong is that they've got grit and attitude. What do I mean? I mean 80 year old grandmothers cussing left and right with no shame. Passengers who are not hesitant to tell my grandfather to grab one of the priority seats on the bus because it is his right, and people who are not afraid to tell off others when things aren't done the way they want it. All this in contrast to the generally more passive attititude in China, makes Hong Kong a really different and special place.

Hong Kong I learned like New York is also a city of immigrants, and in the process of learning how my grandparents migrated to this buzzling city, I also learned that my great-grandmother had once lived and worked in Singapore by herself for decades before returning to China. A solo female traveler in search of a better life in the 1800s is by no means an easy feat, and I'm so proud to learn that she was my great-grandmother. It sounds kind of silly but in a way by going to Southeast Asia I feel like I'm reliving her footsteps.

Thanks everybody so far for following me on my journey. Hope to see you in Bangkok!

Day 27 - 10 interesting observations about Guangdong

It rains quite a lot here in the Southern Canton regoin. And I don't mean just tiny drops, it's straight heavy downpour for hours.

So far I've been caught in the rain while tomb-sweeping, while buying groceries, while picking watermelons, and while riding on motorcycles. Rain ponchos don't even do much here since the rain is so heavy and the wind is so strong. Apparently though this isn't normal, and it's just our luck that it's been raining half the time we've been here.

While I'm free today, and I finally have no more relatives or village neighbors to visit, I'd like to share my list of interesting things that I've noticed about the people here in Guangdong from Jiangmen City. FYI, for those who don't know, Guangdong is a province (similar to what we call states in the U.S) and it is home to many of the Cantonese people in China and overseas, and Jiangmen is one of the cities located in it. Guangdong is also one of the few provinces in China where Cantonese is more wisely spoken than the national language, Mandarin. So if you can imagine, Guangdong is quite a distinguished area compared to the rest of China. Kind of like Scicily is to Italy.

So here we go, 10 interesting things I noticed about Guangdong:

1. People here have extremely high standards for food. I haven't sat through a single dinner where we didn't pick apart all of the dishes and figured out exactly how things were cooked. Everyone seems to have an opinion on whether something tastes better steamed or boiled or poached. I just eat.

2. People rinse all their tableware with tea before eating at restaurants. Even though most of the utencils come prewrapped with the word "Disinfected" on it, people still go at it with tea before eating. I know this is a uniquely Guangdong thing because when I did it at the Shanghai dinner table, people looked at me real funny.

3. A cheap tank top here costs about $3usd, similar to if you went to Forever21 in the U.S. Yet it only costs about $.33 cents to ride the bus here compared to $2.75 in NYC. Why?

4. People smoke everywhere. I even saw ashtrays on airplanes, yet there's a sign that says you cannot smoke. Did they just recently change it so people can't smoke on planes?

5. People are really scared of the sun. They'll carry umbrellas with them everywhere to avoid the sun. At first I thought it was really silly, but the sun here indeed is quite strong, and the risk of being burnt is much higer than in the U.S. Well, unless you live in Arizona.

6. There are $2 dollar stores here instead of .99 cents stores! In usd terms, that would be a .33 cents store.

7. You cannot buy contact solution in drugstores. You buy it at the glasses store. Makes sense.

8. People take siestas here! My cousins get two hours for lunch and nap, AND they still get off work at 5 or 6. Whaat? We need to start a petition for this in America.

9. Cantonese and Mandarin speakers can somehow mutually understand each other here. This is NOT true anywhere else in the country. My mom was looked at real cray cray when she spoke Cantonese to people in Beijing.

10. People really like fresh meat. You've heard of people liking fresh fruits and vegetables, but people in Guangdong really like restaurants and markets where you can pick your own live fish, duck and chicken. Yup. You simply pick a chicken, they give you a tag, and you come back in 10 minutes to a freshly slaughtered chicken, defeathered, washed, and wrapped for you.

11. BONUS! There's a LOT of propaganda on television. You turn any TV on in China and you'll see ads promoting China, songs about China, and even on talent shows you'll see foreigners (who I suspect are hired) singing about how much they love China. All of this is just a little creepy to me.

So that's it, my 11 observations. Hope you found that interesting! The anthropologist in me just couldn't help but share these "field notes," haha.

Rain, lots of rain!

Day 25 - Weary and tired.

So it's been almost a month of traveling for me. How do I feel and what have I learned?

I feel tired and weary to be honest. When I told all my friends and family I was going away to travel, I think many people thought I was going to a five star hotel to lay down and soak up the sun. But that's not my case, and I wanted it that way. Not that I have anything against the finer things in life (I do enjoy being a beach bum once in awhile,) but to me that's not really traveling.

If there's one thing I've learned so far from my trip, it's that the world is becoming more and more similar. Globalization is true and real. In all the cities I've been to so far, from Denver, Colorado to the tiny town my parents grew up in China, I recognize similar strives and advances. They all want to be one thing: to be a big modern city.

Without being too political, obviously there are pros and cons to urbanization. More jobs, security, structure, better schools, ect and ect. I see this in my own family with my aunts and uncles leaving their farms and big houses to live in apartments in the city so that their kids can go to better schools. I see it with the young kids working hard for money to buy and afford the same things as their friends. I see it with people who ask me questions about my life in America. They're curious and they're are hungry to see more. But the thing is, is urbanization really good for everyone?

I don't have a problem with people striving for better lives, but what if you have it good already in your big house and tiny town? You're well fed from the fresh fruits and vegetables that you grow on your own farm. You can take off from work whenever you want, and you're actually in better shape than the city folks from breathing in fresh air instead of smog and pollution. Your kids are even going to better schools now that transportation is better. Why then would you want to move to a big city where people constantly compare themselves to each other. Anyone seen The Joneses?

In China, I've noticed one thing. For the lack of better words, there is a lot of crap and junk being sold everywhere. It doesn't matter if you're at an upscale mall in Beijing, or a small market in a tiny town. Everyone and anyone is selling and buying a lotta unnecessary stuff. What do I mean? Miles and miles of handbags and shoes. Clothing with all sorts of bizarre writing on them attempting to imitate American brands. There is a lot of emphasis on owning material things, no matter if you need it or not. That's why even my 10 day tour of China was 40% shopping.

It saddens me that the process of becoming more "modern" depends so much on buying material goods.
But enough of me and my negativity. I've also seen many positive things. Old ladies running up to me to tell me how much I've grown, and joyfully hand over things they grew with their own hands. People who are happily choosing to live in their small towns, people who are making money in their city jobs and investing that back to the towns they came from. People who are retaining the unique things in their families and towns that many have forgotten.

Maybe I just have a bad case of nostalgia, but I'm afraid the world is becoming more and more alike, and I'm not sure I like it. That's why I like to travel the way that I do, outside of the resorts and hotels, before it all becomes cookie cutter malls and houses. It's not luxurious nor comfortable, and I DO miss my home, my comfy bed and pillow, but so far it's been an exciting and unforgettable journey, and I wouldn't trade any of it.

Day 19

China craziness ensues.

So in my last post I mentioned how Chinese tour guides tend to make shopping part of their secret agenda along with sightseeing.

This is all true. I don't want to discredit any of the tour guides, who've all been wonderful and funny, nor scare anyone who wants to go on these tours, but I want to share my experience and make it clear what you are getting into.

First, these tours are dirt CHEAP. For one person, 10 nights, all meals, ALL transportation and activities are included, and it was only about $380usd. That's right. And I'm talking about 4-5 star hotels not sketchy motels or hostels. So how the heck are these tour guides making any money off of us? Simple. They rely on the commission they make from us buying overpriced souvenirs and goods.

What kind of goods?

$200usd tea packages, pearls, jade, ruby (mostly fake), pottery, silk and medicine. Over the last 5 days we've been brought to a different place known for each of these products. These settings have varied from museums, to herbal shops, to jewelry showrooms.

Now I don't have a problem with learning, and I did really learn some interesting suff through some of these places, but there was one place that I must mention so anyone who goes does not get tricked. All the places we went to before this one were pretty plain about selling us things, and if you didn't want to, they can't make you. They won't look happy but they can't force you. However this last place was the WORST.

This place was called Tian Mai Jewelry. It's located in Shanghai and set up as an antique/jewelry collection store. When you enter, one of the "students" of this place comes out to greet you and begins to give you an introduction to jade. Then out of nowhere a gentlemen named Allen posing as the "owner" of this shop comes and apologizes for not knowing we were there, and coming to give us an introduction himself. He then stays for an hour (even though he said he's very busy) telling us how he just happens to be at the shop today and how happy he is for this "coincidence." He then proceeds to give each of us a piece of jade as a small gift, and tells us it's not much to him since he has so many. Then he told us how he was born in Hong Kong and took over this business for his father and never thought this business was so lucrative and how blessed he feels to have been so fortunate to find so many precious antique pieces. He even brags that he is only 42 and about to retire. At the end of all this he shows us some of his most prized pieces including a lot of ruby rings and necklaces, and then he says since he feels so fortunate and happy, he will sell each of these peices, normally a few hundred dollars, to us for $50usd. At this point, if you didn't know any better you would feel like you won the lotttery and you would be more than happy to buy a piece or two.

But let me tell you, all of these pieces are fake. They're actually made of quartz stones. And if you don't believe me, simply type TianMai jewelry in Google or Baidu and you'll see that this place has swindled people's money over and over again. The story that the "owner" told us has been retold over and over again, word for word, except he is sometimes from Thailand, sometimes from Taiwan. I cannot laugh any harder. Read: the moment you step into this place, everything is part of an act. An act written to trick gullible housewives and retirees, or just people who feel bad that they have to go to this length to earn our money.

So that's my story and experience of this tour so far. It's not all shopping, I don't want to give you the wrong impression, I've seen lots of wonderful things and met some wonderful people. But if you do go on these tours, please EDUCATE yourself and do some research. Decide for yourself what you are willing to spend and buy, because it's not all fake, there are some things worthy of buying, but you have to be smart about it.

Other than this, the tour guides have been incredibly informative and helpful. However just know that it is also part of their job to persuade us to buy stuff, and take it with a grain of salt. If you don't want to buy anything, just make sure you give your tour guide a generous tip at the end. This should turn their frown upside down.

Onto Beijing!

Day 18

Has it really just been 18 days since I left home? It somehow feels a lot longer, probably because I've been to so many places in the last few days.

So what have I been doing? Well after spending about a week at my aunt's place, my father, my mother, my grandfather and my aunt boarded a plane to Shanghai for a 10 day tour of China's most famous cities.

Currently we are on day 5 and we've already been to 5 cities. Shanghai, Hangzhou, Wuxi, Nanjing and Suzhou, all of which are beautiful cities.

Before this I've never been to any cities in central or northern China so it has definitely been interesting to see how it differs from the South. The biggest difference I've noticed so far? The cuisine.

In a typical meal, people in the north eat a bigger grained rice, but the vegetables are much smaller. They like to cut then up, whereas in the south I noticed they like to leave veggies whole with stem and leaves together. There are also a lot more pickled and radish things up north. Meat wise, things don't look too different, but I can't really comment since I don't eat much meat anymore. I have noticed however that some places really like fish, and other places like Nanjing really love duck. Fortunately for me there has been some type of tofu dish everywhere we went.

So what are the cities like?

Shanghai is an interesting blend of new and old. The juxstaposition is actually quite beautiful. I'll never forget the moment our plane flew directly above all of the skyrise buildings. One of them actually peeked out of the clouds into the sky.

Hangzhou is a very serene place. It's known for it's beautiful trees and scenery. I get the feeling that everyone there prefers a slower, quieter lifestyle. It is also home to a lot of poets and scholars from ancient history.

The third city we went to is Wuxi. Wuxi has a lot of beautiful lakes, one of which is Taihu, and Taihu produces some of the world's most beautiful pearls.

Next was Nanjing. This is a very historical place in Chinese history. Once invaded by the Japanese leading to the atrocities known as the Nanjing massacre. However today it is a thriving city rich on history, and one that really loves duck. In my one day there I've seen signs for duck noodles, duck feet, roast duck, duck eggs and duck buns. Curiously, someone also pointed out a shop that sells donkey pancakes. Not sure if he was kidding though.

Then finally today we arrived at Suzhou. Suzhou is beautiful. It is a water city much like Venice with houses built next to rivers amd streams. It also features many beautiful gardens which I love to look at. Definitely a nature lover kind of place.

Keep in mind please everybody that I've only spent one day in each of these cities so what I've seen are probably very narrow views of the places. However I'm very happy to say I now have a much better understanding of China than I ever did before. I'm getting to practice my Chinese a lot more, and I am picking up a lot of new words. I definitely want to continue to get even better.

As for the tour itself, some of you may be wondering how it is. Well if you know anything about tour guides, especially the ones in China, they're notorious for pressuring their clients to shop. Is that true?

Yes. So far shopping has been about 40% of our tour. Some of the things they sell us are complete rubbish and some are actually good products but are higly overpriced. I have more to say about tthis, but I'll save it for another post.

Time for pictures!

Day 13

Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province

I've said it before and I'll say it again: China is a different kind of place. It's chaotic, it's orderly, it's rural, it's modern, it's old and it's new. It's all of the above and none of it. It's confusing as hell.

At least that was my impression of it when I rode the bus from Hong Kong to mainland China. Within an hour we went from huge skyscrapers to small farming villages, and then back to cities. I kept wondering, while I was on the bus, when will I ever get to the city that I spent half of my childhood in? Surely enough three sleepy hours later, the city that I kind of remember started to appear, except none of it looked familiar.

I was dropped off at one of the main hotels in the city. Right away I was bombarded by motorcycle taxis asking me where I needed to go. I didn't know. I sat by the stoops where my father told me he'd meet me and just observed my surroundings. It's hot, it's humid. There were palm trees everywhere. Am I in Hawaii? South Korea was still kind of chilly when I left, and now I was dripping with sweat, sticky and hot. I started to feel itchy just thinking about all the mosquitoes I'll face the next few days.

Out of nowhere my uncle and my father appeared, just as sweaty, and scooped up all my luggages (which is really just my backpack and purse) and told me we were just 2 blocks away from one of our old apartments.

At the apartment I was greeted by my grandparents, my aunts, my uncles, my second aunt and uncle, my third aunt and uncle and cousins. You see, in Chinese culture,  each of your aunts and uncles have their own honorifics titles, and I'm still learning them all. You cannot call your mother's sister the same thing you call your father's sister, nor can you call them by their names. I told you, it's confusing. And did I mention my father has five siblings and they're all married with kids?

The next few days I spent reaccquanting with all my aunts and uncles and cousins. All of whom told me I looked the same. They all thought I was joking when I told them I just turned 26. Then I regret telling them because the next question that follows is always about marriage.

It's kind of funny, everyone seems to have some sort of assumption about me since I grew up in America. For example, they're surprised I can still speak Chinese pretty well, they're suprised that I can still use chopsticks. They said, "But I thought everyone in America uses forks and knives!" Then I have to tell them some "Americans" can use chopsticks better than me. They're astounded but not sure if they believe me.

On my third, fourth and fifth day (that's today) we went tombstone sweeping (grave sweeping? Burial sweeping?) Anyway it's when the whole family goes and cleans up the area where your ancestors are buried, and offer incense and food as gifts. Then once you do that you ask for their blessings and protection from evil doings.

This was an interesting experience to me, as I don't remember any of it from the last time I went. And I'm intrigued by how many rules there are. Things have to be placed a certain way, things have to sound a certain way, and things have to be done in a certain order. Spiritually  speaking I guess you can say I met my great grandparents and great-great grandparents these past few days.

As fun as that was though, now I'm exhausted from all the walking and climbing. These graves are not set up on nice flat grounds, they're up hills and mountains with no real paths to them. You literally walk into bushes and trees to find these burials. I'm amazed that we can even find half of these places!

Finally though tomorrow I can rest a little bit, and explore the city a little. Then on Tuesday I'll be heading to Shanghai, which I'm excited to see!